The Late Show

It’s a good thing Christmas is around the corner. Santa better give Jabari Simmons of Cal State Northridge a new alarm clock or Coach Bobby Braswell is going to make like a chimney and blow his stack.

Simmons, a junior forward who possesses a confounding blend of superior skills and suspect maturity, recently was late for consecutive games.

He missed a shoot-around before the team left for San Diego on Dec. 2 because he was meeting with a professor. Four days later he simply overslept, waking from a nap at 6:20 p.m. while his teammates were on the floor preparing for a 7:05 game against Loyola Marymount.

A sure way to rouse Simmons would be for a referee to peek into his dormitory room and blow a whistle. The transfer from Compton College bristles when called for fouls, another sore point with Braswell.

Simmons blew his stack at a key juncture in the Matadors’ opener at Arizona State, collecting two personal fouls and a technical in little more than a minute, reversing the momentum and securing his position on the bench.

Braswell, a stickler for punctuality and personal responsibility, is surprisingly tolerant with Simmons, a former two-sport star at Santa Barbara High.

Simmons played 22 minutes against San Diego and 12 against Loyola Marymount, although he didn’t start either game. He started against Ohio State on Monday and had 12 points and eight rebounds in a team-high 32 minutes.

“Jabari is a wonderful, nice young man,” Braswell said. “I use my best judgment on what will send the best signal and message. No one felt worse than he did about being late. I really like him a lot as a kid.”

So does anyone who gets to know Simmons. Braswell is the latest in a succession of caring male figures in his life.

Simmons is the son of a Ventura College counselor who holds a Ph.D., and he carries a 3.0 grade-point average toward a degree in social work.

When he’s on time and not fixating on a foul call, the 6-foot-7, 240-pound post player provides a rugged rebounding presence as well as a deft shooting touch inside 15 feet. He had 53 points and 24 rebounds in two exhibitions, leading Northridge in both categories.

Simmons, 21, has another role, that of a father. His girlfriend of three years, Dawn Hicks, gave birth to a daughter, Summer Jordan Simmons, in November.

His short fuse at Arizona State is explained at least in part by a phone call he received at the hotel moments before leaving for the arena. Dawn had gone into labor.

“I talked to her and she was struggling in pain,” he said. “[The birth] was something I didn’t want to miss and it bothered me that I couldn’t be with her.”

Reacting strongly to fouls is a habit Simmons picked up at Compton, where he resurrected a basketball career derailed by taking--then blowing--a football scholarship to Cal out of high school.

“I got a lot of technicals at Compton,” he said. “It was more relaxed there. I was able to get away with being a few minutes late or missing a class.”

The fouls at Arizona State were doubly embarrassing because the official blowing the whistle was Jerry White, a former Oxnard College baseball coach and a friend of Simmons’ father, Zeke.

In fact, Simmons attended baseball camps conducted by White as a youngster.

“I’ve always told Jabari that athletics is something that can afford you insight into life,” Zeke Simmons said. “One day you’re up, the next day you’re down. Through it all you do your best and persevere.

“I raised Jabari with what you’d call tough love. But he is an adult now. I raise questions, then listen to him and leave it there.”

He forced his will on his son once, and it didn’t work out. Pushed by his father, Simmons accepted the scholarship to Cal even though he played only one year of varsity football at Santa Barbara.

The adjustment proved too much. While attending summer school after his redshirt season, Simmons was dismissed for violating a team rule.

“I shot out of high school and left home too quickly,” Simmons said. Simmons missed basketball, the sport he had the most success with in high school, when he was Channel League most valuable player. He asked if he could play two sports like his teammate Tony Gonzalez, but the football coaches wouldn’t allow it.

“I could have stayed another year, kept my scholarship and come back the next year, but I got discouraged,” Simmons said.

Gonzalez went to the Kansas City Chiefs and Simmons, feeling he let his father down, retreated to Compton to live with his mother. After a few months of sulking, he decided to give basketball another try.

Under Coach Rudy Washington, Simmons blossomed at Compton. He was rated the sixth-best junior college center in the nation by one publication last season after averaging 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds and leading the Tarters to the semifinals of the state tournament.

Along came Braswell in April, offering Simmons a scholarship and an opportunity to continue his career close to home.

Simmons lives on campus, and Dawn and Summer Jordan are nearby in North Hollywood.

“This is like a high school in a way,” Simmons said. “I’m close to home-cooked meals and everyone I love.”

Still another caring adult watching Simmons closely is Bob Blakeney, an assistant principal at Santa Barbara.

“He has a bright mind and a good support system,” Blakeney said. “The question remains, does he have the maturity to make it work? He is approaching that. It’s not an overnight thing.”

No one has displayed more patience than Braswell. And no one holds a clearer image of the player Simmons can eventually become.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he will be one of the better players in our conference, but only if he can keep these little problems from coming up,” Braswell said.